CBC catches ITV’s Shadows

Canadian broadcaster CBC has bolstered its scripted offering by picking up a crime drama from ITV in the UK.

Chasing Shadows (4×60′) is written and produced by Rob Williams (DCI Banks, Holby City), and produced by the ITV Studios drama team headed by Francis Hopkinson (Lucan, Wallander), who will exec produce.

The four-part drama, which consists of two self-contained two-part stories, is based around a missing persons unit charged with tracking down serial killers. It first aired on ITV in the UK in September.

CBC has ramped up its foreign drama acquisitions over the past year as it copes with a cut in government funding and the loss of rights to sporting events, including NFL and NHL games. The broadcaster plans to cut more than 650 jobs over the next 18 months to save US$118.4m.